Helmet



R. MALCOM.

HELMET. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24', 1919.

1,378,255. Patented y 17, 1921.

Mlllllllliilhl zzaz UNITED ST S orrlcs ROBERT MALCOM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HELMET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed'February 24, 1919. Serial No. 278,629.

To all whom it may concern:

Be'it known that 1, ROBERT MALCOM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Cook county, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Helmets, of which the following, taken in connection with the drawings, is a description.

My invention has for its object the protect both the eyes and the head of the.

wearer.

, A further object of my invention is to provide such a head protector of material whlch is noninflammable, and nonheat conducting, and which when in use rests upon the shoul-v ders of the wearer, protecting the head and eyes from the heat and the eyes from th effects of the brilliant lights.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the class described, which has means for ventilation, and which is provided with independent sets of glasses or lenses, which may be of different colors, and one set of which is detachable with respect to the other, and for the purposes later described.

Afurther object of my invention is to proprovide a protector of this kind, which Wlll prevent any light or reflectlons of light reaching the eyes from the sldes or back of the protector, or through cracks, or other openings around the lens holding frame.

Other objects of the invention W11]. be apparent to those skilled in the art.

In the drawings I have illustrated what I now consider the preferred form of my 1nvention, although it is obvious V certain changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the same, and 1n these drawings,

Figure 1 is a met;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan v1ew,'and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail taken front elevation of the helon line 4-4, of Fig. 1, and showing in dotted lines a frame of the helmet when raised.

Referring to the drawings, number 5 represents the body portion of a head protector, which may preferably be approximately semi-cylindrical, or semi-elliptical in form, or any shape to fit the contour of the back of the head of the wearer and leave room for the device to extend down-to the shoulders and be supported thereon whenworn, and to fully protectthe neck and'upper chest from extreme heat.

This shell or protector body may be formed of a single piece of material pressed into the desired form, which material is preferably, although not necessarily, fiber; or said pro.- tector maybe constructed of a plurality of assembled parts forming the shell of the protector. When two or more parts are asof the helmet is pref- Patented May 17, 1921.

sembled, they'may be riveted together as anysuitable size and shape, such as round 7 (which I have shown in the drawings) elliptical, square, rectangular, or, otherwise.

The lens holding frame 8 fits closely into this opening and is secured to the body 7 by rivets, screws, or the like. This frame is preferably formed in halves, each having. a shoulder 9 which abuts the inner wall of the opening, as shown more clearly in Fig.

A. A groove 10 is formed on theinside of this lens holding frame 8. A glass or lens 11 fits into this groove andby' closing thefltwo halves of the frame around and securing them to the body of the protector, the trans parent member 11 is held firmly in place.

Fitting around the outside of the frame 8 is another frame 12, which is movably secured to the body 7 in this instance, by a hinge 13 engaging it at the top of the frame. At a point exactly oppositethe hinge member is a boss or projection 14,, formed integrallywith the frame 12, which engages a spring member 15, which in turn is fixedly secured to the body 7 of the protector. The purposes ofthis will be hereafter explained.

This frame 12 is provided with shoulders 16 upon which is placed the 2nd transparent member 17, which may be glass or any other suitable material. This transparent member is held removably in place by detachable clips 18, which are secured to the edge of the frame 12 by screws, rivets, or the like.

one of which engages each of'the spring members 18. These spring members tend normally to hold the'frame 12 in open posiv ,tion as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4.

. -When worn, and the hinged member 12 is in the open position, theeyes of the wearer are protected by the inner member 11, which is sufiicient under some circumstances, but from the extreme heat of furnaces,-or the like, the double protection is necessary,and

the wearer then lowers the hinged member until the lug-1 1 engages the member 15 which locks it in closed position with the protection of the double glass or protector in front of the eyes. v 1

-As will be observed,- this outer frame' 12 falls very closely around the inner-frame 8, so that when in .closed position no rays of light or light reflections can pass'between th se two frames and dull or blind the wearers vision. The transparent member held in the movable frame 12, is of a colorcontrasting with the color'of the inner glass. Thus the user may open or close the outer frame 12, as required, by disengaging the frame 12 from the spring member 15, when necessary for a clearer examination of his work, or for any other reason, without removing the helmet.

When the frame 12 is disengaged from the spring member 15, the action of the s ring 18 curves the frame 12 to the position s own in thedotted lines in Fig. 4. When the wearer wishes to close the frame, he simply pushes it down to engage the boss 14 in the opening provided for that purpose in the spring member 15. A Bythe use of this device it will be observed that when placed over the wearers head, it is completely protected from the extreme heat of a welding furnace, or the like, and also from -the brilliant light; that the user can easily and quickly close the frame 12 as he needs to examine his work; that either or both of the transparent members are always in the line of vision of the workbeing done; that the protector can be put on and removed without any loss of time or inconvenience to the wearer.

I claim:

1. A helmet or head protector comprising a shell or casing, shaped to fit around the head and contact with the shoulders of the wearer, said casing having an opening therein in front of the eyes of the wearer, a lensholding frame secured to said casing around said opening, a transparent member held therein, a frame surrounding said lens-holdframe and movably secured to said casing, and a transparent member removably secured to said last named frame.

2. A helmet or head protector comprising a casing formed of a single piece of noninfiammable material shaped to fit around the head and rest upon the shoulders of the wearer, said casing having an opening in front of the eyes of the wearer, a frame surrounding said opening being fixedly securedin said casing, a transparent member secured,

in said frame, a frame movably secured to said casing, and surrounding the first men:

' her, shoulders formed on said last mentioned frame, a transparent member of a contrastmg color to the first mentioned transparent memberpositioned upon said shoulder and removably attached thereto, spring members attached to said casing and to said movable frame adapted to hold said frame in open position, and means for holding said frame in closed position.

- 4:. A helmet comprising a casing, adapted to fit around the head and rest upon the shoulders of the wearer, said casing having an opening in front of theeyes of the wearer, a transparent member closing said opening, a frame member secured to sald casing and surrounding the aforesaid transparent member, shoulders formed on saidlast mentioned frame, a transparent member of a contrasting color to the first mentioned transparent member and positioned upon said shoulder, removably attached thereto, and means for holding said frame in different adjusted positions with respect to and independent of said first mentioned transparent member.

5. A helmet comprising a body portion fitting around the head and resting upon the shoulders of the wearer, said body portion having ventilating openings near the bottom 7 thereof, the top of said helmet being open,

double eye protecting lenses positioned in front of the eyes of the wearer, one of said lenses being held in a frame stationary with respect to said helmet, and the other lens held in a movable frame, independent means for raising said last mentioned lens member above the range of vision through the stationary lens, and means for lowering said last mentioned lens in a plane parallel with the stationary lens, and securing it in that position.

6. A helmet comprising a body portion formed of a single piece of material fitting around the head and resting upon the shoulders of the wearer, said body portion having 7 ventilating openings provided near the bottom thereof, double eye protecting transparent members positioned in frames arranged in front of the eyes of the wearer, one of said transparent members being stationary with respect to said helmet and the other movable, said last mentioned transparent member having a frame adapted when in closed position to inclose the rim of the stationary transparent member and eX- clude all light between said members, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. V

VIVIAN REEsER, ARTHUR B RUSSELL 

